The House Always Wins
by Luthair Paendrag
Summary: The Prize: 10,000 Dollars. The Challenge: Get proof that T.K and Kari are a couple. Sounds simple, doesn't it? The things people will do for money...
1. The Stake

Disclaimer: Don't own Digimon. Thinking about it buying it, just so I can have another series of Tamers and another one with the Adventure kids again, but it may be a while.

Author's Note: The story you are about to read takes place some 3-4 years after 02. It contains traces of Kenyako, Takari, Nuts, Michi, Sorato and has a high opinion of itself.

Chapter 1. The Stakes

"You may all be wondering why I called you all here today." started Izzy. He was standing in the park, computer by his side, surrounded by the majority of the Digi-Destined. Ken and Yolei weren't there though; they were locking lips in some supply closet as Davis put it so eloquently. Neither was T.K or Kari present, though for completely different reasons.

"I'm not so much wondering why we're here so much as why you decided we should meet in the park at seven in the morning in the middle of winter?" grumbled Matt, who obviously had not quite acclimatised to the cold.

"Oh, right. Sorry. Anyway, as you may remember, some years ago we made some bets on the future. Well, now its time I handed out the prize money."

"Bets on the future? Don't you mean perverse wagers on who was going to end up with who?" This time it was Joe and his remarkably high moral standard to do the grumbling.

"Joe, for being the only person to guess that Matt and Sora would end up together, you win $200."

"YES! In your face losers." Joe jumped from his bench grabbed the money from Izzy's fist before looking back on what he had just said before and sitting back down very quietly. Meanwhile, Matt and Sora just looked at each other.

"Matt, you bet that I would end up with Tai, didn't you?" said Sora. Matt just blushed and slowly nodded before looking back up and glaring at Sora.

"Wait a second," responded Matt indignantly, "YOU bet that you'd end up with Tai?"

"No. I bet that you and Tai would end up together" answered Sora matter of factly. There was an awkward silence with Tai and Matt blushing at the thought that the girl they had competed for had thought they were gay.

"…Anyway," continued Izzy, "now that we all know that the love of Matt's life thought he was gay, I've got $50 for our most recent bet for Davis for bringing us the photo proving Ken and Yolei were a couple."

"Wow," whispered Mimi to Tai, "I thought Davis would end up with Yolei." Davis overheard this and responded with what he had been sure was self praise when he thought of it.

"Yeah, well, I always bet against myself don't I?" There was a silence at this while everyone waited for Davis to catch up with what he was saying. After about half a minute they gave up and Izzy started again.

"Umm, okay then," said Izzy, "there's only one cash prize left but its left unclaimed for the moment."

"Wait," interrupted Tai, "Davis, how did you get that photo"

Flash Back 

It was a crisp, winter afternoon in the park, and Yolei and Ken were meandering along one of the many paths, heading nowhere in particular and enjoying each other's company. Yolei was clutching onto Ken's arm and staying as close to him as humanly possible, under the plainly false pretext of trying to stay warm. Not that Ken seemed to mind of course. He'd just finished a rather amusing anecdote about computer graphics cards that had cracked Yolei up before looking around, seeing no one else in the general vicinity, and then kissing a rather surprised and pleased Yolei. The two were so occupied for the next 5-10 minutes that they never saw the figure hiding in the tree snapping photo after photo, laughing manically under his breath.

Flash Back 

"I waited three hours in that tree. The squirrels stole my goggles. But it was worth it" Davis snapped back into reality and noticed that everyone was staring at him again. It's difficult not to stare when you see a person's face go blank and mutter things under his breath for a whole two minutes; it's just such a rare experience.

"What is it?" interrupted Cody who had been silent up until now.

"What is what?" replied Izzy, who was still watching Davis with a touch of fear.

"This last bet. What was it for?"

"Yeah, and how much is it?" asked Davis.

"Oh yeah" remembered Matt "this was the pot for when T.K and Kari would get together, right?"

"Is that why they're not here?" asked Cody

"That right," replied Izzy, "which is a shame because they each got a hundred dollars for betting on Tai and Mimi getting together." Tai quickly pulled arm back from around Mimi's shoulder, both of them blushing profusely.

"WE ARE NOT A COUPLE" they thundered in unison, the power of their words nearly knocking Cody over.

"The photos that Kari and T.K gave me tell a different story" Matt was smirking as he pulled some photos out from thin air, presenting them to Tai with unabashed glee. "I was going to have this one blown up and 'Tai and Mimi 4eva' airbrushed over the top," he quipped before fleeing behind Sora to escape the two's murderous glares, sticking out his tongue from behind his girlfriend.

"Ummm…So no one won the money for T.K and Kari?" ventured Cody, who was trying to bring the conversation back lest Tai and Mimi try to kill Matt there and he was caught in the crossfire.

"Yes, and thanks to someone's…" at this point everybody just stared at Tai, "overprotection, no one's going to be able to collect the pot."

"Well," said Tai shaking off the stares, "why don't you just hand the money back Izzy?"

"I don't actually have the money" admitted Izzy sheepishly.  
"Did you buy a new computer with it?"

"No, I invested it for an Economics Class project. But I can't get it out unless someone wins the pot"

"Oh well, it was only a hundred dollars" Tai was feeling quite pleased that no one had won that particular bet; it meant he was doing his job as an older brother well.

"It _was_ only a hundred dollars," started Izzy before he looked down at his shoes and started twiddling his thumbs.

"Izzy," asked Sora calmly, "you said you invested the money. How much is it worth now?"

Izzy said something inaudible.

"What was that Izzy?"

"Ten Thousand Dollars" said Izzy in a whisper that still reached the back row.

"Umm, how did you make that much?" asked Joe with interest.

"Computer stocks" answered Izzy

"Should've guessed"

While Izzy and Joe talked business, the rest of the group just started to stare out into space.

**Ten-Thousand Dollars**

'New soccer gear' thought Tai, paying nary a thought to the fact that he'd have to undo all his hard done work at defending his sister's honour to win the cash.

'A new guitar' thought Matt, thanking some sort of divine entity for giving him the chance to manipulate his little brother for cash.

'Clothes' mused Mimi, actually not thinking about the money at all and going back over that cute dress she'd seen the day before.

'Kendo' wondered Cody before jumping his thoughts to how to get the 'money shot' as it were.

'University fees' thought Sora, the only one with any real sense.

**Ten-Thousand Dollars**

While the others stared off into their own private fantasy world filled with money, joy and other happy things, Davis was torn. On the one hand he could use to the money to win Kari over once and for all, but to get the money he'd have to prove that Kari was lost to him forever.

"AHHHHH Cruel World!" shouted Davis as he sunk to his knees, screaming at the heavens for the cruel hand that the Gods had dealt him, snapping everyone out of their daydreams and bringing them back to reality.

"Right. This is what we'll do," explained Izzy, who had obviously planned the following rules in advance, "It's a long weekend isn't it? That means we've got three days. Seeing as I've got be impartial and Joe objects to this whole thing, I say we just divide into groups of two, and the two who get T.K and Kari together on their day get the money to split. Fair?"

"No. It's not fair." Davis seemed on the brink of insanity. "I'm not going to have any part in this."

"You just say that because Kari's turned you down like a bajillion times." Retorted Mimi, with everyone else nodding in agreement.

"Yeah," said Sora, "we all know that those two were made for each other, and they'd be together already if it weren't for you and the other goggle head."

"Ok, Ok, Ok." Izzy was now trying desperately to stop the meeting falling into a melee. "This is what we'll do. Matt and Tai, you get Saturday, Mimi and Sora, you get your turn on Sunday, and Cody can have Monday. And if none of you get them together, then I suppose Davis gets the money. – at this point Davis looked up with a huge grin on his face – Now does anyone else have any objections?" At this point Izzy looked up at Tai, hoping to God that he wasn't going to punch him in the face for suggesting this plan that would invariably end with Tai's mission to stop Kari from dating until the age of 30 failing. Tai, however just stood there, backing away a bit as everyone began to peer at him intently, waiting for him to object.

"Guys, ten-thousand dollars? I'd sell her into slavery for that kind of money. Actually, I think I tried to once when she was six. I tried to sell her to Sora for a bar of chocolate." That freaked everyone out just a little.

"Well if everything's settled, I have to go attend a breakfast of the Computer Club in Hibiya. We meet back here same time Tuesday." Izzy was very pleased that everything had gone down almost without a hitch. He guessed that all hell was about to break loose that weekend and the malicious part of him was overjoyed that he could create such havoc. As he made his way towards the nearest train station he began to chuckle; by the time he was at the breakfast he was laughing manically and actually suffered a mild asthma attack later that day.

"Seeya Izzy," Mimi shouted, "say 'Hi' to Yolei and Ken"

After Izzy left, the rest of the group began to break up and go their separate ways. But for them, only one thing was on their mind: how to win the dough. Sora and Mimi went to brainstorm over coffee, Cody off to kendo, Tai and Matt to plan for the next day. Neither of the two boys noticed Davis follow behind them at a discreet distance. The money would be his and then at last he could win over Kari with his immense wealth as well as intellect and good looks. All he had to was sabotage everyone else. Like Izzy he also began to chuckle insanely for the rest of the day, lost in his dream world of ruining T.K's chances with his girl forever.


	2. Strike One

Author's Note and Review Responses: Well here is chapter two. It weighs in at almost three times as long as chapter one, and is more plot driven than the first.

Mrs. Radcliffe 13: Evidently, I have updated as per your request. Thanks for the first review.

DemonFromThePast: I'm glad you enjoyed that fun little part regarding Tai and Matt. I expanded a little on it here.

Sunflowers: Firstly, I am honoured to once again be reviewed by you. I just loved DEAFiant, and would recommend to any reader of Takari. Thanks for your review.

Tazkolthemasterofemeralds: Hmm. Interesting theory… Read on and find out.

JyouraKyoumi: Thankyou, I think:) I grew up with Izzy, not Koushirou, and that's the way I'll die.

Puasluoma: Finally someone thinks I'm cool!

Mark Lamb: Wow. While I agree that Takari is entering its death throes along with Digimon fanfiction as a whole, I'm honoured you would count this story amongst the better.

Iluvemyboyfriend: I will finish this story. I will continue. Thanks for the review.

Aubreysvampiregirl: Obviously you enjoyed the first chapter. I hope you enjoy this one.

Not-So-Frequent-Reader: I enjoy my run ons I find them to be part of my charm :) That it could be imagined on TV is the aim of a good fanfiction, so thanks.

Traveler3: Yes, there is a second chapter. It's about three centimetres below this.

Keep up the reviews!

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Chapter Two- Strike One

Saturday morning. Snow fluttered down from the sky and covered the ground and the pond in the middle of Odaiba Park had frozen overnight. Children across the city were finishing their breakfast and morning cartoons and, wearing ridiculous winter wear, were swarming the parks all across Tokyo. Truly it was a good day to be a child, Hell it was a good day to be alive. Friends were laughing, throwing snowballs and generally making merry, while couples throughout the city (cough Yolei and Ken cough) were meeting for coffee before a romantic day in the crisp, cool and downright pleasant but cold weather. Yes, it truly as a good day to be alive.

All the more shame that Tai Kamiya was still asleep like a log. It wasn't until his alarm began ringing that he began to rouse himself from his doze, and it wasn't until his mother ran screaming into his room to throw the alarm clock, which had now been ringing quite loudly for fifteen minutes, out of the window that Tai actually gathered the energy necessary to lift himself from his bed, straining every muscle in his body as he pulled himself up and tuned out from his mother's frightening rant on alarm clocks. Why you may very well ask was Tai Kamiya, the athlete, the leader so utterly tired? The answer lies in the day before. Having finalised plans with Matt yesterday morning for what would be their triumphant victory in this game of Izzy's he had faced force that could not be reckoned, one perhaps worse than his mother's cooking; he'd had to spend the rest of the day shopping with Mimi, who, since their relationship had been so rudely been made public, had wasted no time at all turning her boyfriend into a pack horse as she dragged him across the Ginza. But it had been worth it. By the end of the painful ordeal, Mimi had been too tired to move for a week, let alone try to disrupt his and Matt's plans for today. But enough but Tai's aches and pains and Mimi's compulsions; they're not the couple you've come to read about are they?

"Mum?" asked Tai as he sat down at the kitchen bench, scratched his head, wiped the sleep out of his eyes and began to wolf down with reckless abandon the cereal and toast that his mum had so meticulously prepared for her son, "Where's Kari. We're supposed to be spending brother-sister bonding time today" Tai's mum nearly choked at this.

"Oh, your friend Cody called while you were sleeping. Kari said he needed some photos of his grandfather's dojo for some magazine called 'Kendo Monthly'. She took her phone with her if you want to ring her though."

"I'll do that" he answered thoughtfully before reverting to his thoughts. 'That little runt. He's trying to keep the two apart on some errand for the day so he can win the money later. Sneaky little devil, that's something so sneaky I thought only I'd be capable of it. Well if you're going to play hard, then you'll see the full force of what the leader of the digidestined can do.' Tai got up from breakfast and in short order showered and got dressed, chucking to himself at the sneakiness of the plans he and Matt had come up with.

He stepped out of his family's apartment in warm clothes to fight of any winter chills, including a pink lined jacket that Mimi had bought him the day before. It wasn't like he wanted a pink jacket, but it was the only thing he had, and now that he thought about it, the pink did bring out his eyes. Now he was moving quickly from the apartment building, heading towards the sprawling expanse of the seaside Shiokaze Park. Now it was game time, and he wasn't going to let the machinations of a runt six years his junior steal that money from him.

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In another apartment in Odaiba another boy slept. Matt Ishida had also done as he and Tai had agreed upon and forced his girlfriend into a long daze for the day. In his case all he'd done was taken her out for a romantic dinner, and followed it up by a romantic walk through the park. For five hours. Sora should've known from the outset that something was up, but by the time she had begun to cotton on to his scheme, she was almost asleep. Thus did one of Matt's plans actually work for the first time. He'd sapped Sora's energy out so much that he'd had to carry her home and deposit her on the couch of the Takenouchi household.

Seeing as his dad had already left for the office, Matt took the chance to sleep in, before, not fully awake mind you, making himself a piece of toast, changing into his clothes for the day and taking a shower. In that order. It wasn't until sleep abruptly left him about three minutes into his shower that he realised that he was still wearing his clothes. After a roar of obscene language that was heard by the three year olds two floors below him, Matt dumped his now ruined clothes in the bin, changed again and set off. Despite these setbacks, Matt actually managed to reach his and Tai's meeting place before his brown haired compatriot, and took to ordering a coffee and sandwich from the department store café.

The café was on the fifth floor of a department store on the western side of Odaiba, overlooking Shiokaze Park. From its windows one was able to see the entirety of the park, making it the perfect place for Matt and Tai's plan for that day. Tai arrived about fifteen minutes after Matt. When Matt noticed him enter, he stood up and let go of the rolled up poster he had brought with him, letting it unfurl to the ground. Having missed a train, a bus and getting a tear in the coat Mimi had bought him which he was now becoming strangely attached to, Tai's bad luck for the morning was rounded off by being confronted by a poster of him and Mimi making out on a park bench. Airbrushed across the top were the words 'Tai and Mimi 4eva'. Tai's jaw dropped.

"I…I don't believe you actually did it." Matt just grinned back.

"Don't worry Tai, it's not like I made copies and sent one each to Mimi and your homes. And I most certainly didn't put up say fifty copies across the school, and there's not a chance in the world that I had them made into Christmas cards for next month to send to all the Digidestined" Tai just stared, the colour quickly draining from his face; he hadn't told his parents about Mimi yet.

"Please tell me you're joking" he pleaded, but all he got in response was a Cheshire Cat type grin. Tai thought ruefully back to the days in the Digital World when he was allowed to punch Matt in the face, but accepted defeat and slumped into the chair opposite Matt. His mobile phone began to ring, breaking him from the thoughts of his mother's reaction to finding out about Mimi.

"Hello? Dead man talking here"

"Tai?" Tai sat up straight as an arrow as that oh so familiar voice came across the line

"Kari?"

"Of course it is silly. Mum said I should call you. She said something about a 'Brother-Sister Bonding Day' and then started mumbling. What is this about Tai? Never once in my entire life have we ever had a 'Brother-Sister' Day."

"This is exactly why we should start today. Got to make up for all the ones I missed, don't I? No time like the present, is there?"

"But…"

"Good. Meet me at Shiokaze Park."

"Shiokaze? But that's on the other side of Odaiba"

"Then hurry up. We have lots of bonding to do to make up for all those years I neglected you"

"Ooookay. I should be there in twenty minutes"

"Awww. Good girl. See you then." Tai flipped his mobile shut and turned once more to Matt.

"So?" asked Matt.

"She'll be here in twenty minutes"

"You only got her to come here now? That's a risk Tai. What if she'd said no?"

"It paid off didn't it? Relax Matt, she doesn't suspect a thing. Well maybe she suspects something from that 'bonding' talk, but there's no way she could know what it is. When's T.K getting here?"

"In about twenty minutes. While you were talking to your sister, I sent of a message to my ickle younger brother." Matt pulled out his phone and showed Tai the message he had recently sent to his brother. It read:

"Be at Shiokaze Park in 20 minutes or you'll never see your hat again"

"Did you actually take his hat?" Tai asked. Matt simply responded by producing the air-locked plastic bag, in which T.K kept his favourite hat when he wasn't wearing it, complete with hat inside. Tai just stared at the hat.

"Does he always keep it in that bag?"

"If it's not on his head, it's in this bag" answered Matt

"Weird. And you say I take risks Matt. T.K's going to kill you."

"Phah. With the money we'll win today, I could buy him a hundred hats. Not that I will mind you, but the fraternal love's there anyway."

"…So what do we do now"

"We wait Tai. We wait"

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Obviously this didn't sit well with Tai. He was man of action, not sitting around in a coffee shop. He pulled out the binoculars and took a look at the park, but quickly tired of that and instead began fidgeting in his seat like a child half his age. Matt just closed his eyes, leaned back in his chair and listened to whatever song happened to be playing in his mind. That just annoyed Tai more. So it was with no pangs of remorse that he flicked a sugar cube from the pot in the centre of the table at his friend. Matt sat up with a start, looked around and just glared at the grinning Tai, before flicking a sugar cube back at his friend. It quickly devolved into the two boys flicking sugar at each other, whooping loudly like kids half their age, before an elderly woman came over to their table. Judging by her hair and clothes, she was obviously a throwback to San Francisco in the 60's.

"Oh it's so nice to see young couples of all kinds in the city these days" she nodded kindly to the pair, completely misreading the situation. Both Tai and Matt blushed a deep, embarrassed red.

"What?... We're not a couple" stated Tai, who was getting annoyed with what looked like a crazy escapee from another decade.

"It's okay to feel what you feel young man" replied the old lady, trying to comfort what she saw as a sexually confused young man with a pat on the shoulder.

"No Ms. it's true, we're not gay" Matt butted in politely, before grinning at Tai, "See?" he once again unfurled the poster next to his chair of Tai and Mimi. The old woman fainted dead away.

A number of things happened in the next few moments simultaneously. Patrons of the café rushed over to the old woman who was as pale as a ghost; two of whom also caught glimpses of Matt's poster before he rolled it back up, and fainted as if struck by the gaze of a basilisk, while the café's management forcibly removed Tai and Matt from the premises. However, unseen by anyone else during this medical emergency, a figure got up from the table next to Tai and Matt's and left. A figure in a trench coat. A figure who had entered the café only half a minute after Matt. A figure under whose hideous fedora hat one could still catch a pair of goggles glinting in the light. That's right ladies and gentlemen; Davis Motomiya was in the building. It had been too easy for him to follow Matt that morning from his apartment. Granted, he had received some stares for his attire, but that was the price of going incognito. It had been easier still to listen into the two and leave in the confusion. But with the stealth part of his operation over and done, he had no need for his coat and deposited it in the stairwell that he had descended while I was describing him. When he had entered the stairwell, fleeing the incoming paramedics and protesting teenagers, he had been another man in a trench coat. But now he was back in public, he was Davis again, and turning his charm up to maximum, he set out to win his love's heart and a big pile of money.

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"I don't see why they had to drag me out by the hair" complained Tai as he rubbed his sore head and tried to get his well styled hair back into his favourite position. "I think they may have put a hole in my jacket."

"It was the biggest and easiest thing to grab hold of." Matt deadpanned, "Hey. Look. There they are." Having been thrown out of one building and threatened with criminal prosecution for showing such sordid pictures in public; and to an old lady mind you, the pair had relocated to the observation deck of another building down the street a bit, with Tai complaining about police brutality and Matt watching for the two potential lovebirds with his binoculars.

"What, where?" Tai pulled out his binoculars and focussed on where Matt was pointing. Sure enough, there was Kari, with T.K, laughing and talking together as they strode towards the park.

"They're already in the same place Tai" Mat was getting giddy with excitement, "this is too easy"

"Now for Phase Two" Tai muttered to himself, pulling out his mobile and speed-dialling his sister.

"Hey sis."

"Tai?"

"Yeah, sorry about all this, but I've gotta cancel on today."

"Bu…But I've just come all the way across the island. I don't have any money to get home."

"Well T.K lives near the park. Why don't you just spend time with him?"

"Actually, he's already here…I think he wants to speak to you." There was an abrupt pause as the phone was handed over. Suddenly an exasperated, slightly deranged voice came on the line.

"I know you know where he is Tai. Tell Matt that he's a dead man. I'm gonna smash every single one of his guitars. I'll fiddle around with their strings so they all play flat notes. I know you know where he is Tai. No, wait, you're in league with him aren't you Tai? It's all one big conspiracy isn't it? Well I'm coming for you too now." T.K's breathing was uneven and worrying, so much so that Tai was actually afraid that he might burst onto the observation deck at any moment and spear tackle Matt and him to the ground. The breathing suddenly cut away and was replaced once more by Kari's voice.

"Sorry about that Tai. Matt stole T.K's hat and he's a bit worried"

"HAAAT!!! I WILL AVENGE YOU!!!!" Tai wasn't sure if he was hearing the screams reminiscent of a wounded rhinoceros over the phone, or if they were actually carrying from the park a hundred metres away.

"He's very worried."

"I can hear" Tai was very frightened of a spear tackling from T.K now. But his fears of a sudden attack by an overprotective hat owner were quickly quashed by the next words he heard. "Well I better go now Tai. Davis just turned up out of nowhere, and the three of us are going to see the performers on the pier. I'll see you tonight then." Kari hung up, her voice replaced by a shrill beeping sound and a deep sense of foreboding in Tai's heart.

"What the Hell?! Tai take a look at this." Matt looked worried as he passed the binoculars to Tai, who shook them away.

"It's Davis, isn't it?"

"How could you possibly know that?"

"Kari told me on the phone. By the way, T.K _is _going to kill you"

"Another problem for another day. What in Hell is Davis doing here?"

"What do you think? The idiot's just going to attach himself to the two of them for the rest of day…"

"And because they're so kind they wouldn't show anything in front of him, even if we could get them into a romantic situation. They wouldn't want to break his little heart" Matt finished what Tai was thinking to a tee. "I honestly didn't think Davis had the smarts in him to pull something like this off"

"You're right. Usually with him there's an explosion or an attack by rabid squirrels or something (tazkol the master of emeralds, that's for you), but this is too stealthy for his standards by far."

"I know what you're saying Tai, all he has to do is hang around the two and all our plans, everyone's plans are done for. The money's as good as his if we don't think of something fast." Tai thought for a few moments. Now he was in action mode. If only they could get him away and deal with him. "I've got an idea. All I need you to do Matt is make a distraction"

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At the base of the pier that street performers often plied their trade, and it was here that Tai found his two potential lovebirds and his one unwelcome guest. He himself was crouching in a copse of bushes several metres of the trio, waiting for Matt and what he hoped would be the best diversion the world had ever seen.

"Ready to go?" Matt jumped into the bushes next to Tai. Tai looked at him puzzled.

"What are you doing here? Where's the diversion?"

"Just wait" Matt said simply, looking at his watch, "3…2…1…Now" A scream rose from across the way and Matt grinned at Tai, who raised an eyebrow in response.

"What did you do?" he asked suspiciously; Matt's grinning was starting to freak him out.

"Hmm? Oh I just stuck that poster on a tree" The screams started to get louder and several people fled past Tai and Matt's bush, looks of pure terror on their faces; as if they had witnessed the coming of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse themselves.

"I hate you" was all Tai said. Matt just waved him off.

"Stop your whinging Tai. Look." A mere metre away from the two, Kari, T.K and Davis' attention was focussed on the scenes of chaos that was unfolding in front of them. "Now" The two burst from the bushes and, each grabbing one of Davis' arms, carried him away with all the stealth of a surgical military strike. Kari and T.K never saw a thing. Quickly they pulled him away from the crowd and onto the pier. There would be nowhere for him to run now.

Davis squirmed between the two, but escape was impossible. When he was finally and unceremoniously dumped onto the ground, he stood up to find himself standing on the end of the pier, his back to the freezing, winter water of Tokyo Bay. With mental alacrity previously non-existent powering up in his head, Davis began to scheme a way out of this unfortunate situation.

"It's over Davis" started Tai, looking as threatening as he could at Davis.

"The game's over" Matt looked equally threatening. This boy was not getting the way of a new guitar. "The two belong together. There's nothing you can do about it." Davis ignored Matt almost completely. Tai was his ticket out of here.

"I must say I'm disappointed in you Tai. Choosing money over your sister. Oh, and nice jacket" Davis took a step to the right, and the two opposite did the same, ensuring that they still faced across him, like across the face of a clock.

"What do you mean Davis?" questioned Tai suspiciously. Was he dissing his new favourite jacket?

"All these years you try to defend her from boys, and now in a single day you've changed. For shame Tai. For shame." Another step to the right.

"Stop right there," Matt started to cotton onto Davis. He'd never thought the goggle head would be smart enough to come up with what he was hearing. The boy was trying to turn Tai against him, and judging by the look on Tai's face, he was succeeding.

"What exactly was your plan anyway?" he smirked, "Let me guess. You were going to set them up on some sort of romantic dinner?" Another step around the face of the clock.

"How could you possibly know that?" blurted Tai before shutting his mouth, embarrassed.

Davis laughed. "Easy. I just looked up the current romantic films that were on, and guessed you'd plan it on one of those. You two aren't original enough." Another step. Tai and Matt shared glances.

"I knew that our plan sounded too much like that film Sora dragged me to."

"You mean the one where the two best friends finally confess their love"

"Yeeah. And that scene where they meet in the park. So romantic"

"And dreamy" Both Tai and Matt had dreamy looks on their face while Davis just stared at the two with a look of unadulterated pleasure and horror. The two quickly snapped out of their daydream and stared at each other.

"Tai. We're never telling anyone about that"  
"Agreed" The two focussed their attention back on their prisoner, who was now grinning wildly.

"Tai," he said "remember the time chased away that kid who wanted to date Kari? That's what you're supposed to do, not hook her up with T.K" Another step. Tai was confused, his mind swirling with thoughts of his sister, his duty as an older brother.

"But the money" he admitted weakly. He was starting to feel sick.

"Join me Tai" offered Davis, "We can split the money. Together we can stop the others from hooking the two up. Join me and it can be ours. You can have the money and be the older brother you were born to be" One final step.

"STOP IT!" shouted Matt. "You're not escaping Davis. Isn't that right Tai?"

"Money and protecting Kari?" Tai muttered, tempted sorely by the offer.

"Tai" Matt's tone was even and measured, masking his worry. What would he do if Tai turned on him? "If you turn now, I'll put up that poster across the entire city" This snapped Tai back to reality. Davis muttered a couple of curses under his breath.

"See Davis? You think you can beat us. But we're a team, and we can't be beaten that easily." Davis just kept grinning.

"And what precisely were planning to do, now that you've cornered me? Throw me into the water?"

"…Pretty much" was Matt's response, although Davis' insane grin was still frightening him. That and the fact that… "Dammit," he muttered under his breath, "he's a smart one." Only now did he realise Davis' true plan. The entire plan to turn Tai had been a ruse, one to distract them from the fact that he had been moving around them. Now he was safe on the pier, while they had the water at their back. Tai noticed their peril at the same time and shot Matt a frightened stare, silently whimpering. Tai didn't like swimming in frozen waters very much.

"Great teamwork" Davis sneered, before with a mighty shove, he hurled the two off the pier, into Tokyo Bay. "Have a nice trip guys. See you next fall!" And before the two hit the water, he was gone.

"Davis you bas…" 'SPLASH' masked the obscenities that would have raised the story's rating as the two hit the water. The freezing water. It was a minute of frantic shouting and waving before a kind soul pulled them out with a pole, by which time they were nearly unconscious.

"We were outsmarted by Davis. DAVIS for God's sake." Tai muttered to Matt as the two were hauled back onto dry land.

"I know Tai. We don't deserve to live for letting that runt con us" Matt chuckled weakly, and then fell unconscious. Tai thought it was only polite to do the same and also lapsed into a coma.

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The two boys regained consciousness several hours later in separate rooms on the fifth floor of the Odaiba General Hospital.

Matt regained consciousness to be confronted by the sight of his younger brother standing over him. Angry.

"WHERE DID YOU PUT IT" T.K began to throttle his brother, making Matt wish that he was still in a coma. "WHERE'S MY HAT?!!!" He was quickly ejected from the ward, carried out by two large orderlies. After that frightening scene, Matt breathed a sigh of relief and noticed that his brother hadn't been the only one in the room.

"Hey Sora," he smiled weakly, injured partly from the coma, partly from his brother. Sora walked over and sat at the foot of her boyfriend's bed.

"Are you going to tell me what happened?" she asked, a look of concern barely masking her amusement at the situation.

"Davis" was all he could say.

"You didn't expect him to give up Kari without a fight did you?"

"Of course not," Matt shook his head, "but he's gotten smarter. He outsmarted me and Tai," Sora laughed, "It's not a laughing matter. He'll be after you tomorrow. Unless…Have they caught him?" Now it Sora's turn to shake her head.

"Afraid not. I had Izzy and Joe check out his house, and he's disappeared. He must have gone into hiding for the duration of this crazy competition."

"Wait a minute," Matt looked at the love of his life with a suspicious look, "you've already had his house checked out? How did you know it was him?"

"Woman's intuition" was all the answer he got. "So how did your plan actually go?" Matt couldn't resist a laugh.

"A total failure. Also, Tai may be suffering some psychological trouble: he had to choose his duty over money today. Luckily he chose the money; smart boy."

"Oh good. I win $20 then" Sora replied.

"You made a bet?" Matt looked at her with disbelief

"Of course." She quickly changed the subject again. "So you lost?" Matt nodded.

"We lost. Be careful tomorrow Sora, the boy's dangerous. He's desperate."

"I'll be careful Matt," Sora pulled herself up the bed and began stroking Matt's hair. "But now it's time for you to sleep. I'm going to walk T.K home. And then I'm going to hook him up with Kari" Matt looked at her smiling ruefully as her stroking of his hair slowly sent him back into the dream world.

"Good luck" he yawned sleepily before promptly falling to sleep, where his dream was a replay of his plan for the day, which in retrospect he would describe as slightly worse than Stumpy Zero-leg Mc'Noleg's plan to run the London Marathon (Blackadder, you bloody genius).

Down the corridor, Tai also was coming out of his deep sleep. The first thing he saw was not a person threatening to kill him, but instead a clock. This clock showed that the time was 11:30pm. The second thing he noticed was his sister. Kari looked almost as bad as her brother, a look of worry across her face. With these two things a final, last ditch attempt began to form in his mind. The third thing he noticed was his once new, now drenched and destroyed pink jacket. While not part of the plan, it is worth noting that a little bit of his heart died when he saw it destroyed.

"Kari" his voice was raspy and his sister rushed over to his side, a look of relief washing over her.

"What is it Tai?" she asked, getting close to her brother so he didn't over exert himself.

"Go…Go look after T.K. He must be so upset over Matt…look after him" It was a long shot, but if romantic films had taught him anything, it was that tragedy always ended with a blossoming romance.

"Kari?" A new sugar coated voice entered the room, "Go check with the nurses that all the paperwork is finished. It seems your brother must be still out of it."

"Okay Mimi. Bye Tai, get well" Kari got up and left the ward and left Tai with his girlfriend.  
"I see you picked money over sister," Mimi said as she sat down next to Tai on the chair next to the bed, "I owe Sora $20"

"Why?" he asked "I could still win. Why would you ruin it for me?" Mimi just smiled a pearly white smile that melted Tai's heart.

"Because I want to win Tai."

"But…" she held a finger up to his mouth.

"But nothing. Now is time for you to sleep." She commanded, but Tai didn't see the warning signs.

"No," he was a tad indignant, "I can still win. Kari! KARI!" he tried to pull himself out of his bed, but Mimi quickly put a stop to that.

"This is for your own good" she whispered in his ear before calling out, "Nurse!" A nurse quickly entered the room.

"Yes?" she asked

"This patient is getting restless" Mimi couldn't resist a grin at Tai, who was shooting her a look of pure malice.

"Right. It's morphine time for you" the nurse moved over to the I.V cart. Tai started to protest as the drug worked its way into his system.

"No…You can't d…Damn you Mimi" he tried to fight the drug and his girlfriend's machinations, but quickly slumped over in the bed. The nurse left soon after and Mimi was left with her sleeping boyfriend.

"Poor Tai" she spoke to her unconscious boyfriend, "I tell you what. After I win the money, you can buy me dinner." And with this she left the ward, meeting up with Sora in the middle of the corridor.

"Matt?" she asked

"Asleep" Sora replied, "He's like a puppy; you just rub him behind the ear and he falls asleep. What about Tai?"

"Drugged" Mimi could barely hold back her glee, "that'll teach him a lesson for taking me on such a huge shopping trip."

"You remember the plan for tomorrow?" Sora was afraid that Mimi would have forgotten it, not entirely out of the question given her personality.

"Of course" she replied, and with that the two went off in their own two directions. The baton had been passed from one pair to another. Tomorrow was their day, but first they had to take the lovebirds home.

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Davis could not be found at his house. Neither could he be found at his grandparents' or his uncle's. To find him, one would have to have looked at the Odaiba Middle School, in a small classroom where he had set up shop for the night. He was at his desk, looking inside of it, where lay his shrine to Kari Kamiya. A lock of her hair he'd taken one time in the Digital World, a photo album which contained multiple copies of the same photo just so it looked fuller and, most frighteningly of all, a small, to scale statue of Kari made out of Blu-Tak. Davis sat at this shrine, insanity shining in his eyes, and cracked one of many insane cackles he'd had that day. "One down, two to go" he chuckled to himself before pulling out a mirror and grooming himself. He had to look good when Kari fled into his arms after all, didn't he?

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Love it? Hate it? Review this piece and help me make it better.

Until next chapter, Luthair Paendrag, signing off.


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